Then and Now 2.5 years, pic heavy

VayCayMom

This is my friend that really helped me on my way and pushed when when I was afraid to try. As soon as I told her I was taking an online class she hounded me to shoot her kids, even though I did not plan to do people, and on my application I clearly wrote that the one thing I did NOT want to do was to shoot anything that moved!
Sooo after 4 months I came out, made the hour drive, to appease my bossy friend and I discovered I LOVE shooting kids!!!
This is meant to highlight my growth and the 2 little girls. The THEN photos and the NOW photos were all taken on one day, 2 and a half years apart.



1....THEN.... the FIRST photo I ever took of these two!




NOW....



2...THEN.....not a flattering image..



NOW...WOW...it's not pp as much as you think. I LOVE this photo!!!

here it is after lightroom3 almost sooc, boogers and all




3...THEN...a lot of pp done on this one!


NOW.....using the golden hour and a little pp



4....THEN......I learned a lot from images like these, non posing is better with little kids!


NOW......another one almost sooc, mostly lighting boost and sharpening




5...THEN....photoshop gone WRONG!



NOW... still trying to define just what MY style is...but it is wayyyy better than that last one !



6...THEN...not too bad



NOW.... she is a lot easier to work with now as far as posing etc!!!



7...THEN...this room has wonderful lighting, too bad I STILL could not avoid all that noise!


NOW... the best photo I took that day, maybe EVER!.. all I did here was sharpen and boost color


and if you want to know if Emma has finally begun to grow into her toothy smile like her dentist said she would...

TenThirteen

This is great. I love looking back on photos even a month ago, and seeing how much I have taught myself. But yours are ...exceptional. Good job!!

Agnieszka

You should have titled this thread: Then and NOW-WOW-WOW!!!

OMG!! You've come a loooooooooooong way!!! Simply amazing, your friend sure knew how to do you both a favor

JulieLawsonPhotography

These really are fabulous! I love doing the same with my pictures as well. It seems a lot of us went through a...heavily PP time. I know I did. Then you seem to come into your own regarding style. I love your PP. Sometimes, less is more, right?

Thank you for sharing your before and now.

briandelion

I really enjoyed this thread. Besides being much better technically, your subjects look so relaxed and natural. A feeling of their personalities shines through.

l.k.madison

Glad to know I'm not the only one that looks back, even as recent as a month ago, and thinks "What in the WORLD was I thinking??"

Usually by the time I process them and they get ordered, I don't like all but 3 or 4 from their session. I just recently had a mom order birth announcements and while she LOVED them, I didn't even love them enough to keep a sample of them. The picture, the design, all of it, yuck.

I totally agree with Angie about how this thread should have been titled. Wow, you've come a long way.

Bsimon

So cool Trudy, you have progressed so so much!

marikris

That is absolutely inspirational, Trudy! You've grown not just in your skill with a camera, but also in composition, knowing how to use light, and picking the right setting.

Can't wait to see a similar thread from you 2.5 years later from now

anonymouscuban

Absolutely wonderful Trudy. You've really improved so much in such a short time!!

adbsgicom

Wow

heatherfeather

I love this thread! You go girl!

VayCayMom

Thanks everyone!! Your support has been a big part of my improvement, along with your inspiration that comes from sharing your amazing portraits!
That really pp'd one will probably pop up one day on the internet under worst photoshop ever. It is sooooo ugly, I almost couldn't make myself post it!

Shima

Wow, it's really great to see how far you've come since you first shot these originally! You've improved leaps and bounds, keep it up!

reyvee61

Fantastic!
I have similar images with my two girls since film days.
What a lovely collection!

divamum